Why is English spelling so wildly out of step with how the language is actually pronounced? How did its grammar — deceptively simple-looking on the surface — come to be the way it is? Where do its regional dialects, its literary register, and its everyday speech patterns each come from? This course traces English chronologically from its Germanic and Old English beginnings through to the modern language, set against the social and political upheavals that shaped it along the way — including specific puzzles like the past-tense origins of "can" and "must," the origin of the present-tense "-s," the unique core vocabulary inherited from Germanic, and the surprising number of everyday slang terms that trace back to Irish.
Both options cover the same course content — the difference is how and when you learn.
Self Study
Enrol anytime, start immediately. Lifetime access to all course materials. Book an optional Q&A session with Nigel any time you want something clarified.
$40 / one-off
Register & EnrolPersonal Tuition
Work through this course privately with Nigel via Microsoft Teams. Flexible scheduling, completely bespoke to your pace and goals.
$140 / per student
Book a session Book a bundleWhat you'll learn
Understand the Germanic origins of English and its place in the Indo-European family
See how Viking Old Norse and Norman French transformed English vocabulary and grammar
Understand why English has so many synonyms — begin/commence, ask/inquire, beef/cow
Understand the Great Vowel Shift and why English spelling stopped matching pronunciation
Trace the influence of Latin and Greek on English vocabulary through the Renaissance
Follow English from Shakespeare to the present day
Course outline
The Indo-European background to Germanic and Old English
Evidence for Celtic influence on Old English
The pronunciation and grammar of the West Saxon dialect of Old English, with original texts from the early period through to Ælfric's Cosmology; the impact of Old Norse on the language
Borrowings from Latin and Old Norse into Old English and beyond
The transition from Old to Middle English and the breakdown of the inflexional system, traced through entries in the Peterborough Chronicle
Middle English pronunciation, spelling and grammar
The re-ascendancy of English as a literary and official language and the rise of standard English; the influence of French on Middle English vocabulary; a survey of Middle English dialects and registers
The Great Vowel Shift and the transition to Early Modern English; the influence of printing on English; grammatical developments in Early Modern English
16th and 17th century attitudes to spelling and grammar; the influx of Latin and Greek borrowings in the Early Modern era; the role of lexicographers, grammarians and elocutionists in fixing the standard language in the 18th century
The development of Received Pronunciation in 19th century Britain; the importation of slang terms from Irish; the development of English as a world language; specific topics such as the rise of periphrastic 'do', third person singular -s, the switch from 'thou' to 'you', the origin of the progressive tenses, possessive -s, and the evolution of modal verbs such as 'can' and 'must'
Appendix 1 — Indo-European to Germanic
Appendix 2 — The Origins of the Forms in Old Norse
Appendix 3 — Answers to Exercises
Who this course is for
You've always been curious about why English is so strange and want real answers
You've studied the Indo-European course and want to follow the story into English specifically
You teach English or study linguistics and want a deeper historical foundation
You have no prior linguistics background — the course is designed for curious beginners
Your teacher
Nigel spent seven years attending degree-level classes across every branch of the Indo-European language family. He now teaches from Auckland to students worldwide via Microsoft Teams.
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